Hi
I m starting a Reign of Winter campaign soon and i ve decided that a npc witch will accompanie the group.
It s a 3 man grp + the npc. I don t want the witch to be optimized and don t want her to take away the spotlight from the other characters.
Party consists of a frontline cleric of Gorum, Brawler and probably a investigator/ alchemist.
I started with a winter witch but then realized it s not fair that the npc doesn t suffer from the cold conditions so I decided to make her a elf bonded witch, so I don t have to play the familiar too. She will wield a cure light wounds rod that will progress as they level up.
Now I can t really decide on Hexes and a patron.
Patron, I was really opposed to give the party haste because The Gorum priest will benefit the most of it and I m abit worried that he will outshine the others, but as a cleric he will be able to gain that extra attack anyway as soon as he can cast 3rd lvl spells. Should I provide Haste to the group to keep the others up to speed with him?
I m leaning towards ancestors but it doesn t really exite me, I don t want to take away the clerics responsabilities. Any better suggestions??
Hex:
Slumber and misfortune are the big worries here, I don t want to punish myself to badly :-) not keen on healing, to not make her a healing bot but I m not sure the group has enough in combat healing.
So evil eye and fortune I have at first level, but where to go from there. I ll also add cacle and just make sure that fortune is prolonged on the brawler or investiogator.
Stats:
str 8
dex 18
con 12
int 17
wis 10
cha 8
Traits:
convincing liar & ??
racial substituted: dreamspeaker (reason I made her a elf)
1. evil eye, xt Hex. Fortune
2. slumber?
3.great fortitude?
4. cacle
5. ??
6. hex:
7. ??
8. hex:
how would you build her?
thanx for any advice.
I m starting a Reign of Winter campaign soon and i ve decided that a npc witch will accompanie the group.
It s a 3 man grp + the npc. I don t want the witch to be optimized and don t want her to take away the spotlight from the other characters.Party consists of a frontline cleric of Gorum, Brawler and probably a investigator/ alchemist.
What do the players think about a GMPC (group character controlled by GM)? I mean, it takes spotlight, makes the GM even more busy and probably outpowers PCs (despite being not optimized). As a player I experienced a GMPC once, and I was sick of it pretty fast.
If it's about the arcane magic - give them wands and other items with activable powers. If it's about the otherwise small group - weaken the encounters, don't use many abilities who disable characters (fear, stun etc.) and give them some extra items and gold.
If you want the party to shine and not the NPC, build her as a debuffer/buffer. Don't take slumber (because when it works, it will make the rest of the party redundant), but make use of fortune, misfortune, evil eye and cackle. Load up on curse spells, rays of screw up enemy, anything that will make the foes easier for the rest of the group to take down.
And if you want a witch NPC that isn't optimized to be a powerhouse but is completely loved by the party in Reign of Winter, I imagine taking the Endurance patron could do it.
If you want the party to shine and not the NPC, build her as a debuffer/buffer. Don't take slumber (because when it works, it will make the rest of the party redundant), but make use of fortune, misfortune, evil eye and cackle. Load up on curse spells, rays of screw up enemy, anything that will make the foes easier for the rest of the group to take down.
And if you want a witch NPC that isn't optimized to be a powerhouse but is completely loved by the party in Reign of Winter, I imagine taking the Endurance patron could do it.
We have become used to a npc in the group, nearly every campaign has one. It s a great tool to guide and misslead the players :-) It s also nice for the DM to be part of the team. We have had NPC s who lift to heavy, that s why I want to make her as subtle in combat as possible but give her alot of flavour.
If you want the party to shine and not the NPC, build her as a debuffer/buffer. Don't take slumber (because when it works, it will make the rest of the party redundant), but make use of fortune, misfortune, evil eye and cackle. Load up on curse spells, rays of screw up enemy, anything that will make the foes easier for the rest of the group to take down.
And if you want a witch NPC that isn't optimized to be a powerhouse but is completely loved by the party in Reign of Winter, I imagine taking the Endurance patron could do it.
We have become used to a npc in the group, nearly every campaign has one. It s a great tool to guide and misslead the players :-) It s also nice for the DM to be part of the team. We have had NPC s who lift to heavy, that s why I want to make her as subtle in combat as possible but give her alot of flavour.
Very good input: wasn t to keen on slumber anyway. Also the endurance patron, if the party has something in common it s that they are all pretty low on hp with con scores of around 12-14. bears endurance might even be helpfull here.
I want to stick either to fortune or misfortune, while misfortune might be usable more often on the day, fortune let s the players shine, so I went that route.
Any feats outside of extra hex you can recommend?
One of the witch guides (Hubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble. Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble) has build suggestions for various roles.
For hexes, flight is good for keeping her out of the way. Water Lung is good for underwater action for the party. Cauldron is Brew Potion. The major hex Cook People [evil] is very party friendly.
Other guides:
A Witch's Guide to Shutting Down Enemies
Patron's Review
The Viking Irishman's Witch Guide
Witch Handbook
/cevah
One of the witch guides (Hubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble. Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble) has build suggestions for various roles.
For hexes, flight is good for keeping her out of the way. Water Lung is good for underwater action for the party. Cauldron is Brew Potion. The major hex Cook People [evil] is very party friendly.
Other guides:
A Witch's Guide to Shutting Down Enemies
Patron's Review
The Viking Irishman's Witch Guide
Witch Handbook/cevah
thank you, I ve read the guides, but they are strong on the optimizing side. cook people is great and is already on my wishlist :-)not to keen on flight because I normaly don t erlaud players to have wings or such. If they wana fly use the spell.
still looking for some build ideas full of flavour.
thank you, I ve read the guides, but they are strong on the optimizing side. cook people is great and is already on my wishlist :-)not to keen on flight because I normaly don t erlaud players to have wings or such. If they wana fly use the spell.
still looking for some build ideas full of flavour.
While the guides are strong on optimizing, the first guide I mentioned tells you about roles. Decide what role your witch is to play. Then, with NPC wealth, customize for survive-ability not attack. Don't max the stats for DC, but for surviving. I.e., use NPC Stats per the NPC guide, and place bonus stats as normal. Don't roll or use point buy. For spells, go ahead with the recommended set, but perhaps omit some. Let your players know the list, and have them suggest spells to add by giving the NPC scrolls as desired. Leave open slots for after battle support, but the slots you fill should be suggested by the party. Let them know the roll the NPC is to fill. Also tell them they get to suggest spell loads to a point, and that the NPC is support, not front line. They are front-line, plot wise. Then they can plan their characters selections with that supporting role already covered.
EDIT: Why not fly hex? 1 minute/level, not wings. Keeps her out of the way, and occasionally useful for getting a rope somewhere.
/cevah
PS: What does "erlaud" mean? Did you mean "allow"?
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thank you, I ve read the guides, but they are strong on the optimizing side. cook people is great and is already on my wishlist :-)not to keen on flight because I normaly don t erlaud players to have wings or such. If they wana fly use the spell.
still looking for some build ideas full of flavour.
The flight hex is the spell, just in hex form. There is no wing growth or anything like that. It's also very thematic.
thank you, but the players aint gona decide what spells she uses, they will not even know that she is casting evil eye or that she is a witch for as long as possible. They are supersticious vikings and have a deep hate for witches, till they find out that they have been traveling with one and that she s been giving them the gift of life. She will have her own plot, guide and manipulate the pc s in their dreams to acchieve her own goals.
I could give her lower attributes but don t see what that would do. The only dmg she is gona do is the odd arrow when she runs out of hexes and the spells are either debuffs, buffs or cc if I think a fight would be too tuff.
yes erlaud means allow, always get that wrong :-/
NPC stats means less powerful character.
For the plot you mention, an enchantress & diplomancer type could do well. Hiding in plain sight might also mean bluff skills. There is a hex that gets disguise self 1H/L, I think. Sleeves of Many Garments is only 800 gp and really helps the disguise.
You could look at the archetype Razmiran Priest for flavor and you could re-purpose to the witch. Make them think she is an unusual priest. She does have some "cleric" spells available. Another is the Dreamweaver. Fits the concept you have.
If all spells are cast with a holy symbol, people will think she is a cleric. With the feat False Focus, you can even skip material components up to 100gp.
I, like most here, had assumed the party knew who and what she was and you just wanted a background support character. Your last post indicates you want a hidden plot hook as well, and you need to craft her to fit. A significant difference to the "Hi, I'm the NPC assigned to help" I first thought you were looking for.
/cevah
Yes I probably did not explain my intentions properly. The plan is to make her as flavourfull for roleplaying as possible but in combat or problemsolving she should be invisible, exept for a cure spell to safe someone s life. That s why I m abit reluctant to the fly hex, it can solve problems, where I want pc s to find a solution.
She s a bonded witch, so she will be casting all her spells out of the wand. If they make any accusations that she might be a witch, I ll point out that witches always have a familiar. They should think she is a domain wizzard of some sort, I had a char like that in 3.5. By level 4 when I m planning on taking cackle they ll probably find out.
still looking for concrete build suggestions, and a patron:
Traits:
convincing liar & ??
racial substituted: dreamspeaker (reason I made her a elf)
1. evil eye, xt Hex. Fortune
2. (ward ? does it work with cackle?)
3. great fortitude?
4. cacle
5. ??
6. hex:
7. ??
8. hex:
The party consists of 2 ulfen, ranger and skald (spell warrior) and a frontline priest of gorum.
Ward does not gain any benefit from Cackle, since it lasts until the warded one is hit. Check out Soothsayer for helping Fortune. Have a set of Harrow cards and say you are telling them their fortune each morning. This can explain the initial fortune effect.
For a patron, either Agility or Time get you Haste. A spell a wizard would be expected to get. If the Skald does get it, then you don't need to. I think the Insanity patron also looks good. Good for mind-bending games with Hideous Laughter and Confusion.
If you do cast any cure spells, you will be compromising the idea she is a wizard. However, you do get Infernal Healing that would be better than Cure Light Wounds for appearing like a wizard while also healing.
If you pick up summon monster spells, they can give you a lot of utility, and can help you select feats since there are a number of summon related feats you can take to make them better. If you cast invisibility, you can then summon without breaking it.
For feats, there is weapon focus (rays), Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, Scribe Scroll [something all wizards get], Craft Wondrous Items [useful all around]. Metamagic feats are also good, but you may want lesser metamagic rods instead, since they are relatively cheap.
Hope this gives you some ideas.
/cevah
If it's an NPC, why can't it just be an Adept?
Adepts get a familiar at 2nd, and cast some cleric spells. Party is suspicious of witches, and an adept looks like one. The bonded witch, however, kinda looks like a wizard, and with some fast talking and bluff, the party will think she is a wizard.
Read his latest two posts for campaign details.
@Tyophelis:
She should have a good UMD as well, in order to handle wizard scrolls not on the witch list.
/cevah
For traits, there is a guide or two.
Extremely Fashionable is an equipment trait, that for being clean and showing 150 gp or more of wealth (i.e. jewelry or magic items) gives +1 Bluff/Diplomacy/Intimidate. It is better than Convincing Liar's +1 Bluff/Intimidate.
Fast Talker (social) gives +1 Bluff & class skill
Witty Repartee (combat) gives +1 Bluff & class skill
Princess (social) gives +1 Bluff, +1 Diplomacy, female only
Viking Blood (campaign) +1 Intimidate & class skill
There are also a number of use Int for Cha skill (UMD, Bluff/Diplomacy/Intimidate, others)
There are a number of ones that give a bonus to a save or a reroll on a save.
Check out the list.
/cevah